Embedded Files
Thanetien, 56.0–59.2 Ma, Belgium
In-situ, Paleocene, Belgium
Paleocene, the age of the first primates. Floral species can be compared with living species in Indian and Japanese mountainranges Saporta, G. de et Marion, A.F., 1873, Essai sur l'état de la végétation à l'époque des marnes heersiennes de Gelinden., Mémoire couronné de l'Académie royale de Belgique, Bruxelles.
Vertebrates
Pisces
Chondrichthyes
Elasmobranchii
Selachimorpha
Osteichthyes
Teleostei
Fishteeth
Otoliths
Fishvertebrae
Invertebrates
Vermes
Chondrites sp.
Arthropoda
Insecta
Echinodermata
Trochozoa
Mollusca
Gastropods
Bivalvia
Lophophorata
Brachiopoda
Marine plankton
Plantae
Dryophyllum dewalquei
Dewalquea gelindenensis
Quercus
Posidonia perforata
Chamaecyparis belgica
Link to Sélandien, 61.6-59.2 Ma
Paleocene insect
Odontaspis winkleri Leriche, 1905
This small, highly specialized sand shark represents a key predatory lineage that quickly filled the massive ecological vacancies left behind by the dinosaurs and giant marine reptiles. Their teeth are slender, needle-like, and flanked by small side cusplets, an anatomy perfectly adapted for impaling small, fast-swimming schooling fish in the warming Paleocene seas. Finding these teeth in the Brabant Wallon layers maps a highly dynamic, recovering ecosystem where small, nimble hunters were diversifying rapidly.
Orpodon heersensis (Herman 1973)
Gluckmanotodus heinzelini (Casier, 1967)
Palaeogaleus vincenti (Daimeries, 1888)
Palaeohypotodus rutoti (Winkler, 1874)
Small bivalve
Cast mollusc
Sea urchin
Sea urchin, Echinocorys sp? These robust, dome-shaped sea urchins are spectacular index fossils that tell a vivid story about the sea floor conditions of the Paleocene. Unlike regular urchins that crawled on top of hard rocks, Echinocorys was a specialized, flat-bottomed burrower that plowed directly through soft calcareous mud and sand. They acted like biological vacuum cleaners, scooping up organic debris from the sediment. Finding their complete, heavily calcified shells provides an excellent environmental blueprint, confirming a highly stable, quiet marine setting with a rich, soft seafloor community.
Sea urchin
Otoliths
Sea urchin
Another Echinocorys sp, sea urchin?
Bivalve, Brachiopoda
leaves
Leaf (Dewalquea gelindenensis)
Leaves (Dewalquea gelindenensis) This extinct, iconic leaf fossil is a classic index fossil of the Heersian marls of Gelinden, world-famous among paleobotanists studying the early Paleocene of Belgium. These distinctive, elongated leaves feature a prominent central vein and belonged to a unique family of ancient flowering trees that formed lush, dense forests along the subtropical coastlines of the region. Comparing these rich, beautifully preserved floral assemblages with living species hidden in remote Indian and Japanese mountain ranges gives naturalists an incredible baseline, proving how these ancient European plant families migrated and adapted across massive geographic distances over deep time.
Split seed
Small leaf
Eroded seeds, possibly?
Small leaf fragment with nerve.
Plant material or Animalia, Crinoids?
Wormcasts Chondrites
Region with Paleocene outcrops.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse